Halloween afternoon & evening

Halloween First Stop. Uncle Jon's Work... where any employee who wants to hand out candy hangs up a pumpkin on their cubical. The kids loved looking for all the pumpkins. We went with Auntie Em, Brianna and Carl. The theme to the cousins costumes is "Peter Pan". We had Captain Hook, Smee (another pirate), Tinker Bell and the Crocodile- we were meeting up with Peter Pan later.

Halloween Evening, Second Stop. Our friends live in a nice quiet neighborhood and very last minute we asked if we could park our car in their driveway. They're so nice they said "yes, come on over for dinner too". Everyone should have friends so nice. We invited Auntie Mick, Hung and Casen come along to trick or treat with us as well.

Daddy asked for a pirate coat after seeing the little misters homemade pirate coats. Halloween eve I was able to finish an adult sized red Captain Hook coat for Jerimy. They look pretty awesome together, all my pirates off to plunder the neighborhood. Casen was Peter Pan, and he looked adorable.

After literally RUNNING door to door getting candy we took a quick break at our friends house to have a sweet treat, courtesy of Daddy. YUM! Then it was on to a few more houses and then home for bedtime.

What a fun day. Thanks to family and friends for making it even more memorable!

Pre- Halloween 2012

Oliver's been learning a few new seasonal songs at school. I heard these the other day and he actually let me take a video of him singing them so I could share.

Tuesday evening we carved a pumpkin. It was a rather small pumpkin, one we'd got from Oliver's field trip several weeks back. Which is great cause I hate touching the gooey insides. The boys helped scoop out the seeds and even used the carving knives to help cut out the face that daddy drew on the pumpkin.

All tuckered out

Oh and they talked and played so much, they actually slept in the car on the ride home from visiting family...

They're so cute (and quiet) when they sleep! I love these two little misters with all my heart.

Visiting family...

 We went to Great Aunt Shelli's house for a family gathering. The boys found the toys right away and eventually their air hockey table. Lucius was having a blast! He had to play on his tippie toes but enjoyed every minute.

We even got to talk with Grandma Great Gloria and snap a photo with her. 

Oliver spent the time chatting with just about anyone who would listen, which is what you can pretty much depend on where ever we go. He's so social and outgoing. Thanks for a fun day, so nice to see family!

Quotable: Dangerous

Lucius came to me this afternoon and told me (first excitedly and then he turned serious):

"Me gonna sing a reindeer song. Um...no not gonna sing its too dangerous a me to sing that song"

Not sure how singing a song is dangerous but it was pretty cute. Of course, He never did sing me a song.

On the Road less traveled...

Wow, where do I begin. Ten.Eleven.Twelve (10.11.12) was my last official day at "the office". I've been working with RSP Architects for the last 11 and 3/4 years. That's a long time. I feel like I "grew up" there. Plus, I met my Husband at RSP, he worked on a different team within the office. We met playing softball on the company's co-ed softball team. Crazy how life works out sometimes.

This is the building I've been lucky enough to work in for several years: an amazingly large historic building with dramatic spaces.
 

I've said my goodbyes to co-workers, a sad "see you soon" to those who have become quite dear to me and packed my things. What's next?

We are currently packing up our sold house, closing date is mid-November. We'll be moving into my parents lower level temporarily because we've got BIG PLANS. We are in the process of planning a two- three month trip to Europe early 2013. A grand adventure with the little misters. A celebration of living life and Jerimy finishing his degree in creative writing this December.

As I sat packing a few things the other day, I happened to stumble upon a poem by Robert Frost:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

We've made our choices, some better than others. Some worked out, others didn't but in the end they've been the right ones for our family and for our future. It takes a courage and strength I never knew I had but there's a peace within my heart. I love adventures both large and small. This shall be one of the biggest, scariest, and hopefully most exciting of our lives so far.

Simple Pleasures: random playgrounds...

Being able to pull over and play at a random playground the minute it's spotted by a two year old.

 

just hanging out on the floor

Some days it's just easier to lay on the floor and be. Last night the boys wanted their pictures taken but getting them to sit still and BOTH look at me can be frustrating to say the least. I snapped a few of them:

Then Oliver wanted to take some pictures of me. After a quick teaching session on how to use and be kind to my expensive BIG camera, he snapped a few photos of me and Lucius:

Not bad! I thought he did a great job- these are unedited, just cropped them a tiny bit. Lucius got a turn taking a few photos with my point and shoot camera- told him he had to be at least four to use my big one. Eventually daddy came over to help Lucius focus and take photos. Then all he wanted to do was be in the photo again.  So here's daddy's shot of us all in a fox pile.

Field Trip to the Apple Orchard

With Daddy out of town, Lucius came with to Oliver's school's field trip to the Apple Orchard. It was a lovely day for picking apples. The boys got to play on the playground, swing on the swing set, visit with a few different kinds of animals, take a hay ride and even jump off the hay bales.

 

 

 

 

 

The Little Misters both had a blast. What a fun day at the apple orchard.

Camping at Gooseberry Falls

We took the little misters camping this weekend to sneak in one more weekend away before it gets too cold. We packed the car Friday morning and drove up the north shore watching all the beautiful fall colors on the trees. The boys had some "bored moments" but powered through the long drive for us.

After arriving we found out there were no campsites, bummer. But we decided to get out and go see Gooseberry Falls anyways. The little misters loved the adventure and walking/ jumping over the rocks to see the waterfall. We attempted to find another place to stay but before we left the campgrounds we checked back at the office, just in case. Hooray! They had some people cancel- so we got a campsite. The little misters were super excited to be able to camp. It was meant to be.

Auntie Em and Uncle Jon happened to be camping at gooseberry that weekend. Brianna and Carl came over to our campsite to play before dinner. Glad I had a book for them to color a few pictures, four kids running around can be a bit crazy. After dinner we all headed back to the Falls to walk around.

Saturday morning we woke up early to watch the sunrise. We were out at the shore line by 6:30 am as teh sun was just starting to show it's beautiful array of colors. I really wanted to take a photo of our family enjoying the moment and thanks to my wonderful Husband who had to convince the boys to cooperate for a few more tries. I'm super happy he did cause I got the shot!

After breakfast, both families went for a hike past the waterfalls to a scenic overlook. The trail was a tad longer than we first expected, but the little misters again pushed through to the end. Back at the campsite we had a bit of lunch and took naps. Then went to another state park to "throw rocks in the lake" because no matter how old you are it's just plain FUN! A big hit with all. One last waterfall a couple miles inland and more rock throwing and we were back in the car to drive home late Saturday evening. A glorious fall weekend, and we couldn't have asked for better weather to enjoy.